Government and politics of the SAC
The Southern African Confederacy has a quasi-confederate government. It would be somewhat inaccurate to say the President is the head of government, as he or she has extremely limited powers. Rather, Confederate Provinces have basically enough sovereignty to be classified as independent. However, those are bound with the confederate government through the rapidly expanding Southern African Armed Forces, the country's foreign policy, and limited confederate laws which apply in certain parts of the Confederate Provinces. Executive branch The executive branch of the Southern African Confederacy consists of the President, the Vice President, and any support staff they wish to appoint. A cabinet is preferred, however, would be rather useless, as Confederate Provinces govern themselves in most cabinet-related affairs. No "defense department" exists, rather, the SA-AF is led by the President, Vice President, and Chief of Defense Staff. However, some agencies do indeed exist on confederate level, such as the Confederate Revenue Service, which is the taxation agency, and the Department of Border Affairs, which works closely with the military concerning the border. Principle powers of the President: *Veto or sign legislation passed by the Parliament. *Appoint executive branch employees. *Appoint employees to the military. *Command the military. **Power to initially declare war, put forces on standby and start moving forces. *Establish organizations within the government or civilian sectors. *Grant honors. *Act as the SAC's chief diplomat. *Sign treaties. Presidential elections take place every five years. To become candidates for president, each candidate must fill in the application form and take it to the Office of the Speaker of the Parliament. Once they are vetted and accepted by the Speaker's Office, candidates may begin campaigning. Campaigns may begin in January of an election year (elections take place in August). On the first day of March, the Speaker's Office commissions three independent polls for each candidate, and based upon the results, must remove a third of all candidates (if there are more than five) from the election race. It is thus recommended for candidates to already have popularity and a form of political power before handing in the application form. Once a third of all candidates have dropped out of the race, campaigning will continue. Political parties play a minor role in Southern African politics, and merely act as a support organization or political action group to the candidates. In May of the election year, Parliament will vote on who they want as the President, and the result will be made public. During that day in May, Parliament will provide the reasoning behind their decision. This decision, however, is merely ceremonial and is used because of the high illiteracy rates, to ensure voters (who must be over 18) make the correct decision. On the second-last day of July, the elections begin, and continue up until 2 August, when the votes are counted by the Independent Electoral Organization. The result is read by the Speaker of the Parliament on 5 August and inaugurated on 7 August by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Legislative branch The legislative branch consists of the unicameral, 100-member Parliament. Parliament has a very limited role, however one of its more important roles is to balance control of the military with the President. Members of Parliament may propose any new laws, however if they are going to apply within Confederate Provinces, the respected province's own legislature must first approve said legislation. Principle powers of the Parliament: *Create laws. *Impeach the President or Vice President. *Approves declarations of war, allowing troops to leave SAC territory. *Ratify treaties. Parliamentary elections take place in the respective Member of Parliament's district should a seat become vacant. Once a member is directly elected by his district (which can be anything from an entire country down to a city), he remains in office until death, resignation or inability to preform parliamentary duties. The respective district is able to recall their MP at any time by giving to recall form to the Office of the Speaker. A vote will be called within the district for whether or not to recall the MP, and then another election will take place for the next MP. Once this happens, the election will be scheduled two months from the moment of recall. This gives MPs time to apply and campaign within their district. Votes are counted by the Independent Electoral Organization. Judicial branch The judiciary of the confederate government consists only of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is led by the Chief Justice, who is deputied by the Associate Chief Justice, and three other Associate Justices. They together only hear a very limited number of cases. Judges serve for life until death, resignation or inability to preform judicial duties. The President nominates judges should a seat become vacant, and they are then confirmed by the Parliament. Principle powers of the Supreme Court: *Hear cases of high treason. *Hear cases involving high government office. *Solve disputes between Confederate Provincial and Confederate-level governments. *Act as a final court of appeal for Confederate Provinces (rarely happens) Constitution The Southern African Confederacy has no constitution, rather, each Confederate Province has their own constitution which must, in certain respects, be within limits set by the Parliament. The SAC however does have the Bill of Rights, a set of rights which may not be violated by any Confederate Province. See also *Outline of the SAC *Southern African Confederacy category:SA Confederacy